Its another day, another Android maker signing patent licensing agreement with Microsoft. Its third in this week alone after General Dynamics Itronix and Velocity. Here is the information from Microsoft.

REDMOND, Wash. â€” June 30, 2011 â€” Microsoft Corp. and Onkyo Corporation have signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoftâ€™s patent portfolio for certain Onkyo tablets running the Android Platform. Although the contents of the agreement have not been disclosed, the parties indicate that Microsoft will receive royalties from Onkyo under the agreement.

â€œWe are pleased that Onkyo has taken advantage of our patent licensing program for Android devices and has signed this agreement,â€ said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft. â€œThis agreement and similar agreements recently announced evidence the momentum and success of our licensing program.â€

Florian Mueller of FOSS blog points out in his recent post regarding these agreements that he expects more companies to do the same over time.

What’s clear is that Microsoft routinely enters into patent license agreements with companies of all sizes. There are about three dozen Android device makers out there, and we may see more announcements of license deals over time.

Android doesn’t have a "Microsoft problem". Microsoft is just one of many right holders who believe Android infringes on their intellectual property rights. It’s obviously an important one with its portfolio of 17,000 patents, but it’s by far not the only one.

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